Crown Prosecution Service

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the number of cases which were due to be committed to the Crown Court but which were not sent by magistrates' courts as a result of identifiable failings by the Crown Prosecution Service in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) records indicate that between November 2011 and October 2012, there were 59,634 committals for trial of which 1,299 (2%) were discharged by the magistrates court. Of these 1,299 committals, 263 (0.4%) were recorded as “CPS not ready—adjournment refused”, however, it is not recorded whether this was occasioned by an “identifiable failing” of the CPS or some other person or organisation. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by undertaking a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost. All discharged committals are reviewed locally and consideration is given to subsequently recharging of the defendant.

Crown Prosecution Service

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service staff trained as (a) barristers and (b) solicitors were available to lead prosecutions of criminal cases at London courts in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald: The following table gives the numbers of barristers and solicitors (expressed in full-time equivalent) employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) London. The figures are for each full financial year for the period 2010 to 2012, and for the period 1 April 2012 to 30 November 2012. The full range of cases in the magistrates and Crown courts are prosecuted by barristers and solicitors employed by CPS London, according to their level of skill and experience.
	
		
			 Period Barristers Solicitors Total 
			 2010-11 166.4 260.7 427.1 
			 2011-12 168.5 236.8 405.3 
			 1 April 2012-30 November 2012 137.6 210.8 348.4

Crown Prosecution Service

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General in what proportion of cases in magistrates' courts prosecutors for the Crown Prosecution Service have been in court without (a) the full case file and (b) any case file at all in each of the last three years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the number of cases in magistrates courts where prosecutors for the CPS have been in court without a full case file. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by undertaking a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files at a disproportionate cost.

Crown Prosecution Service

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the proportion of trials that do not take place in magistrates' courts as a result of identifiable failings by the Crown Prosecution Service; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Heald: Although the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the proportion of trials that do not take place in magistrates courts, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service does hold data which is shared with the CPS.
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as part of its regular local performance management arrangements, reviews the data along with other users of the Criminal Justice System, identifying trials that are cracked or ineffective for reasons associated with the prosecution to ensure that lessons are learned.
	The available data does not however identify how many of these trials do not take place because of ''identifiable failings of the CPS", as opposed to failings of any other organisation or individual or other factor. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.

LIBOR

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how much additional funding the Serious Fraud Office has received to carry out its investigation into the manipulation of LIBOR rates.

Oliver Heald: The Treasury has undertaken in principle to make additional funds available to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to cover the costs of the LIBOR investigation to the extent that they cannot be met from the SFO's existing budget. The undertaking is for up to £3.5 million for each of the next three years to be available. The SFO has not yet received any of this additional funding but will be finalising requirements for 2012-13 as part of the Supplementary Estimate process.

Redundancy Pay

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General when his Department convened negotiations on the redundancy terms of its former Chief Executive, Phillippa Williamson and its former Chief Operating Officer, Christian Bailes.

Oliver Heald: As the Attorney-General indicated in his written ministerial statement on 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 51WS, the former Director Serious Fraud Office did not advise the Law Officers of his intention to enter into redundancy agreements with the former chief executive or chief operating officer. The new director, David Green QC, learned of the agreements in May of this year and immediately notified the Attorney-General's Office.

Serious Fraud Office

John McDonnell: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what the details were of severance payments made to outgoing Serious Fraud Office staff including fixed term contract staff, by grade, in each of the last four quarters;
	(2)  how many staff at the Serious Fraud Office on fixed term contracts that left or had their contracts terminated received a severance payment in the last four quarters; and what the total amount paid out was;
	(3)  on what date the severance payment and ex-gratia payment to the former Chief Executive of the Serious Fraud Office was made.

Oliver Heald: Details of all severance payments made by the Serious Fraud Office since May 2010 were published in the written ministerial statement made by the Attorney-General on 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 51WS.
	The payment for loss of office referred to in the written statement was made to an individual on a fixed term contract and was made in the second quarter of this financial year.
	As set out in the SFO's annual accounts for 2011-12, the former chief executive's redundancy costs were accrued into that financial year as the decision and agreement were both made in that financial year and her departure followed soon after it ended. The SFO made a payment of £407,245 to her My Civil Service Pension scheme on 18 May 2012 to cover all additional pension costs arising from early departure. The ex-gratia payment of £15,000 was made on 19 April 2012, and the compensation in lieu of notice of £36,360 was paid on 30 April 2012.

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving licences were revoked due to problems being reported with vision in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011.

Stephen Hammond: In 2010, 4,906 car and motorcycle licences were revoked or applications refused because the applicant failed to meet the vision standards. 493 lorry/bus diving licence applicants were also revoked or applications refused during this period for this reason.
	In 2011, the corresponding figures were 5,285 and 685.

Driving: Licensing

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of drivers reported problems with vision had their driving licences revoked in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011.

Stephen Hammond: Licensing decisions take into account single and multiple medical conditions.
	In 2010, 4,940 car/motorcycle licences were revoked or refused where a visual condition was one of multiple conditions notified. 493 bus/lorry licences were revoked or refused. In the same period 4,895 car/motorcycle licences and 495 lorry/bus licences were revoked or refused because of a failure to meet the vision standards alone.
	In 2011, 5,271 car/motorcycle licences were revoked or refused where a visual condition was one of multiple conditions notified. 662 bus/lorry licences were revoked or refused. In the same period 5,250 car/motorcycle licences and 658 lorry/bus licences were revoked or refused because of a failure to meet the vision standards alone.

Severn River Crossing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which body is responsible for (a) the maintenance and (b) assessing the maintenance requirements of the Severn river crossings.

Stephen Hammond: The Severn crossings are run by a private concessionaire, Severn River Crossings plc (SRC). During the current concession period the private concessionaire is responsible for the maintenance of the crossings in accordance with the Concession Agreement.

Transport

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the level of identifiable expenditure per head on transport in (a) the North West, (b) England and (c) the UK in each of the next three years.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport has not made any estimate of the likely level of expenditure in these regions for future years. While we have an overall estimate of the Department's expenditure in each year up to 2014/15, it is not allocated on a regional basis for future years because this is dependent individual spending decisions.
	The overall budget is published in the Departments Business Plan which is updated annually and can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3367/dft-2012-business-plan.pdf
	In addition, the Autumn Statement 2012 announced a further £1 billion of capital within the spending review period. The North West will benefit from a proportion of the £333 million for highways maintenance and can also put forward proposals for the £170 million local pinchpoint fund.
	As announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, funding allocations for 2015/16 will be announced in the Spending Round in the first half of next year.

Transport: Standards

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the amount lost by UK businesses as a result of (a) road traffic delays, (b) train delays and (c) airport delays in each of the last 10 years; and what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on steps to address the cost to business of transport delays.

Norman Baker: The 2006 Eddington Study estimated that in 2003 the direct cost to businesses in England from lost time caused by road congestion was £7 billion in 2002 prices, equivalent to around £9 billion in 2012 prices (page 34).
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/transportstrategy/eddingtonstudy/researchannexes/researchannexesvolume3/transportdemand.pdf
	There have not been any estimates of the specific cost to business for national airport delays. However, in December 2008, the Civil Aviation Authority published a report on runway resilience and delay. It found (page 22) that in 2007 delay at Heathrow cost £433 million. Around 42% represented a direct cost to airlines. Around half of the total cost was a cost to passengers, including business passengers, in the form of lost time.
	http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/589/ICF_runway_resilience_final_report_16Feb09.pdf
	There have not been any estimates of the specific cost to business for national rail delays.
	The Secretary of State has regular discussions with a range of interested parties, including Ministerial colleagues, on what steps the Government might take to address delays across all modes of transport.

Asthma: Drugs

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the cost of drugs such as the Omalizumab form of Xolair; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure this treatment will remain available.

Norman Lamb: We have received a small number of representations from hon. Members and members of the public about the availability of omalizumab (Xolair) since 1 January 2012.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing its existing technology appraisal guidance on the use of omalizumab in the treatment of severe persistent allergic asthma in children aged six and over and adults. NICE issued an initial draft of its revised guidance for consultation on 9 November 2012 which does not recommend the drug for use on the national health service. Until NICE publishes its final revised guidance, its current guidance on omalizumab, which recommends the drug's use in certain circumstances, stands.

Diabetes

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Quality Standard for Diabetes, whether any assessment has been made of the proportion of men with Type 2 diabetes who have been asked about sexual dysfunction in their annual assessment; and what steps he is taking to ensure compliance with the standard in this regard.

Anna Soubry: Erectile dysfunction is covered in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Clinical Guidelines for Type 2 diabetes. In this guideline it is recommended that health care professionals review the issue of erectile dysfunction annually and that they provide assessment and education for men with erectile dysfunction to address contributory factors and discuss treatment options.
	Currently data are not collected on the incidence of erectile dysfunction in Type 2 diabetics or the compliance of healthcare professionals with the clinical guideline. However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recently consulted on two potential new indicators for diabetes which would collect this data and they are currently being considered for inclusion in the 2013-14 Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Heart Diseases

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to promote shared decision-making for people with atrial fibrillation; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: As part of the Right Care programme of work on Shared Decision Making, the Department has commissioned the development of a Patient Decision Aid on stroke prevention for atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. It is expected to be made available in early 2013.

Heart Diseases

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that care commissioning groups and local authorities are able to record and collect accurate data on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in their local area.

Anna Soubry: The Government's mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board includes an objective to reduce premature mortality, including from cardiovascular disease. The NHS Outcomes Framework will be used to measure progress. It is for the NHS Commissioning Board to make decisions on how it will hold clinical commissioning groups to account for their performance and they will be publishing details on their proposed approach in due course.
	Local authorities (LAs) will wish to understand how cardiovascular disease affects their local population to support their prevention and early diagnosis activities. It will be for LAs to decide, in collaboration with their local health community, what is the best information to use to achieve this.

NHS: Drugs

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to ensure value for money in the purchasing of drugs by the NHS.

Norman Lamb: There are a number of systems in place to ensure, in the main, the national health service obtains the best value from the purchasing of medicines. These include:
	the reimbursement arrangements for the majority of medicines dispensed in primary care, which create an incentive for dispensing contractors to procure medicines in a manner that is cost-effective for the NHS; and
	the 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS), which controls the price of branded medicines supplied to the NHS through the regulation of profits that companies can make on sales;
	the competitive tendering for selected medicines by the Department's Commercial Medicines Unit on behalf of NHS secondary care providers in England. Generic products (the minority of products by value, but the greater part by volume) are tendered through a national programme. The majority of patent-protected products covered by the PPRS (the minority of products by volume, but the greater part by value) are tendered at a regional level which allows for aggregation of spend to achieve value for money, reduce replication and assure a quality supply chain through to the patient.

South London Healthcare NHS Trust

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the cost to the Trust Special Administrator for South London Healthcare (a) is to date and (b) will be upon completion of his work;
	(2)  what consultants and outside contractors are supporting the work of trust special administrators; on which strands of work such consultants and outside contractors are engaged on; and how much such consultants and outside contractors have cost to date.

Anna Soubry: Expenditure for this administration is expected to be small compared to the cost savings and service quality improvements that are expected to follow in the future. At the time this administration was enacted in July, South London Healthcare NHS Trust (SLHT) was spending around £1 million per week more than it had. This means that vital resources are being diverted away from other parts of the national health service. The size of the financial challenge is significant. In 2011-12, SLHT incurred the largest financial deficit across all NHS providers nationally, at over £65 million. Since its formation in 2009, the trust has generated a total financial deficit of £154 million and is forecast to have an accumulated deficit of £207 million by the end of March 2013.
	To date, the budget that has been agreed by the Department for the Trust Special Administrator (TSA) to operate the unsustainable NHS providers regime at SLHT is £4 million. An additional £1 million has recently been agreed. The total budget comprises:
	£1 million paid to fund the office of the TSA, including personnel to support the TSA on communications and engagement, strategy and clinical leadership;
	£3 million for consultancy spend, of which £2 million has been paid to McKinsey as lead-contractor, with Deloitte and PA Consulting Group as sub-contractors. They are engaged in detailed strategic, financial and programme management support work for the TSA; and
	£1 million set aside for contingency purposes.

Thalidomide

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress the Government has made on its determination on whether to extend the health grant to thalidomide survivors into a long-term grant;
	(2)  what recent discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had with representatives of the Thalidomide Trust on the potential extension of the health grant made to thalidomide survivors.

Norman Lamb: I met with the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwell (Alec Shelbrooke), chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group, along with members of the Thalidomide Trust and the National Advisory Council, on 6 November, I have subsequently written to the trust updating them on our progress.
	An announcement on future funding for Thalidomide survivors will be made shortly.

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he proposes that the cost of any UK military presence in Afghanistan post-2014 should be met by the Treasury Reserve or by his Department's core budget.

Andrew Robathan: The MOD expects that the net additional costs of military operations will continue to be met by the Treasury Reserve.

BAE Systems

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of BAE Systems' quality assurance procedures for equipment purchased by the Royal Navy.

Philip Dunne: In procuring equipment for the Royal Navy, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) mandates a series of defence standards, both for the quality management systems employed by industry and for product quality. Robust processes are built into procurement contracts, covering both design and build to ensure industry meets the MOD's exacting quality standards. This includes the internationally recognised standard ISO 9001, to which BAE Systems is registered and certified. The MOD monitors contractors' performance against those standards through a comprehensive system of surveillance, including intervention where necessary. Individual project teams are supported in their surveillance activities by the Defence Quality Assurance Field Force.

Devolution

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what responsibilities the Minister for the Armed Forces has for liaison with the devolved Administrations.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 10 December 2012
	Defence is a Reserved matter and the Secretary of State for Scotland is responsible for representing the interests of Scotland within the UK Government. However, all Defence Ministers liaise with the devolved Administrations on issues that require their support, such as the delivery of the Military covenant.

HMS Astute

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of corrosion and flooding on HMS Astute.

Philip Dunne: All Royal Navy submarines undergo extensive preservation work during build to ensure that the risk of corrosion is minimised. After this has been completed each submarine is subject to a continuous, thorough corrosion assessment through its life. Some limited corrosion was found on certain areas on HMS Astute, but action is being taken to resolve this; neither the safety nor the operational effectiveness of the submarine has been or will be compromised.
	Protection against flooding is paramount on submarines, and is a priority during all stages of design and build. All Royal Navy submarines are required to hold a Naval Authority Certificate for Submarine Watertight Integrity. Certification signifies that the Ministry of Defence's Naval Authority considers that all foreseeable watertight integrity hazards have been identified and mitigated to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable and either broadly acceptable or tolerable, given any operating limitations or restrictions.
	HMS Astute, like all Royal Navy submarines, has been designed such that the risk of flooding is minimised, and that, in the event of any flooding occurring, the crew is able to take action to mitigate its impact. HMS Astute has been issued with a full Naval Authority Certificate for Submarine Watertight Integrity.

HMS Astute

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the suitability of the Pressurised Water Reactor 2's ability to power HMS Astute to its top speed.

Philip Dunne: Pressurised Water Reactor 2 is fully able to power HMS Astute, and all other Astute class submarines, at their designed top speed.

Joint Exercises

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what type of training took place during Exercise Prairie Thunder; what the cost was of that exercise; and how many personnel from (a) the US, (b) the UK and (c) Canada participated in the exercise.

Andrew Robathan: Exercise Prairie Thunder is a 28 day exercise comprising live firing and tactical simulation across 2,700 square kilometres of Canadian prairie. Each exercise trains up to 1,800 personnel at a cost of £32.4 million. Four Prairie Thunder exercises are run in each year.
	The current training year has seen the participation of 25 US personnel on Prairie Thunder 3, and approximately 100 Canadian Forces personnel on Prairie Thunder 4. The remaining personnel trained have all been UK forces.
	The involvement of both US and Canadian troops on Exercise Prairie Thunder is seen as particularly beneficial, allowing all nations to exercise in a multi-national environment. The inclusion of Canadian troops on Exercise Prairie Thunder is part of a reciprocal agreement in which the UK send a light role company on Exercise Maple Lion (A Canadian Army exercise). The US inclusion meant that US helicopters were used as an integral part of a challenging exercise for which they did not charge for flying hours. In return, the UK provided fuel, food and accommodation.

Paper

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what amount was spent by his Department on copier paper in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of the value for money obtained by his Department when purchasing copier paper.

Philip Dunne: Since 1 October 2011, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has met its requirements for paper through a Central Government Office Supplies Contract (GOSC) managed by HM Revenue and Customs. Data for years 2009-10 and 2010-11 is no longer held by the MOD. Under the GOSC, from 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012, the latest period for which data is available, MOD expenditure on paper was £2.78 million, excluding VAT. Use of the GOSC is mandated across all central Government Departments and the expectation is that over time the economies of scale afforded by this centralised arrangement will offer better value for money than previous MOD specific contractual arrangements.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many project licences granted under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been granted for procedures currently being carried out at the Porton Down facility; and what the severity level for each project is.

Philip Dunne: At the present time, there are a total of 21 active project licences in operation at Dstl Porton Down. The overall severity band for these licences varies according to the nature of the work, but can be summarised as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Unclassified 4 
			 Mild 3 
			 Moderate 6 
			 Substantial 8 
		
	
	Dstl operates in strict accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. All the research projects that involve animals are licensed by the Home Office. As part of the licensing process, the researchers have to convince the Home Office that the work is required, that the results cannot be obtained without the use of animals and that every step has been taken to minimise pain and suffering to the animals involved.
	The Home Office, their inspectors and their independent Animal Procedures Committee (APC) make both announced and unannounced visits several times a year to ensure compliance with these guidelines. The MOD's Animal Welfare Advisory Council (AWAC) was dissolved as it duplicated this work.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on foreign military sales contracts procured by the British defence staff in the US in each of the last five years.

Philip Dunne: Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is the process for foreign Governments and international organisations to purchase military articles and services from the US Government. The total value of committed funds under FMS during the past five years is $3,510,397,215. The yearly breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			  Total cost (US Dollars) 
			 2007 334,104,516 
			 2008 949,564,775 
			 2009 183,602,390 
			 2010 1,189,515,596 
			 2011 487,114,494 
			 2012 366,495,444 
			 Grand total 3,510,397,215

Crisis Loans: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many crisis loans were awarded in Scotland in each of the last five years; for what purposes such loans were given; and what the total monetary value was in each such year.

Steve Webb: Table 1 gives the number of crisis loans awarded by application reason in Scotland in each of the last five full accounting years (2007-08 to 2011-12) and the current accounting year to date (April 2012 to November 2012).
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of crisis loan initial awards in Scotland by application reason, 2007-08 to 2011-12 and April to November 2012 
			 Application reason 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2011-12  YTD 
			 Leaving care—not entitled to IS/JSA (IB) 3,670 3,590 2,490 1,160 620 280 
			 Leaving care—rent in advance 80 120 90 70 60 30 
			 Disaster, e.g. fire, flood, explosion, chemical leaks etc. 1,990 2,420 3,540 2,260 1,160 420 
			 Emergency travelling expenses 160 140 670 240 310 140 
		
	
	
		
			 Lost or stolen money/giro 28,370 33,980 45,580 34,100 31,600 15,330 
			 Alignment (period before first payday) 117,880 123,350 153,800 143,330 122,810 75,450 
			 Capital not realisable 13,050 20,600 39,780 33,600 23,390 14,050 
			 Reconnection of fuel supply 680 790 590 250 160 110 
			 Homeless—securing accommodation 250 310 390 520 320 230 
			 Benefit spent—living expenses required 49,920 61,390 108,670 94,330 84,340 47,540 
			 Items, JSA sanctions and JSA disallowances 22,900 23,850 33,760 34,410 6,660 2,370 
			 Total 238,900 270,500 389,400 344,300 271,400 155,900 
			 Source: Department for Work and Pensions Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information. 
		
	
	Table 2 contains figures on gross crisis loan expenditure for Scotland by application reason for the same periods as Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 2: Crisis loan gross expenditure in Scotland by application reason, 2007-08 to 2011-12, and April to November 2012 
			 £ 
			 Application reason 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2011-12  YTD 
			 Leaving care—not entitled to IS/JSA (IB) 114,290 118,420 149,650 76,510 37,390 15,740 
			 Leaving care—rent in advance 3,300 4,580 7,420 10,290 9,780 4,040 
			 Disaster, e.g. fire, flood, explosion, chemical leaks etc. 98,590 118,240 211,190 132,750 62,420 25,730 
			 Emergency travelling expenses 6,200 6,350 29,230 16,640 13,340 7,760 
			 Lost or stolen money/giro 1,778,380 2,115,050 2,792,760 2,255,610 1,923,540 914,790 
			 Alignment (period before first payday) 6,834,420 7,275,260 9,981,690 9,532,240 7,556,760 . 4,339,260 
			 Capital not realisable 670,160 1,037,900 2,179,120 1,930,540 1,283,970 787,420 
			 Reconnection of fuel supply 24,660 29,270 30,390 18,270 10,750 5,980 
			 Homeless—securing accommodation 44,930 56,440 130,690 224,220 131,200 121,680 
			 Benefit spent—living expenses required 2,423,420 3,080,060 5,321,050 4,850,450 3,983,880 2,281,870 
			 Items, JSA sanctions and JSA disallowances 6,735,660 7,541,600 10,367,800 9,915,600 1,118,100 289,400 
			 Total 18,734,000 21,383,200 31,201,000 28,963,100 16,131,200 8,793,700 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official / National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available from the Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System (PBMIS). It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official / National statistics and there are some issues with the data; for example, these amounts do not include expenditure on applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the social fund computer system. 2. All initial awards are rounded to nearest 10. 3. The initial awards figures do not include awards made on review or reconsideration. 4. All gross expenditure is rounded to the nearest £100. 5. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 6. The gross expenditure figures do include expenditure from awards made on review or reconsideration. The gross expenditure for each category should not be divided by the number of awards in each category, as this will give incorrect figures on average awards for each application reason. Source: Department for Work and Pensions Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information.

Departmental Responsibilities

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contribution his Department is making to the Government's ambition of Britain being the most open, transparent country in the world.

Steve Webb: The Department is committed to transparency and published its Open Data Strategy in June alongside details of the new transparency measures it will deliver over the next two years. DWP has also updated and significantly expanded its transparency website. See:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/about-dwp/what-we-do/transparency/
	In November the Department launched new on-line software called Stat-Xplore using housing benefit data. This will allow the citizen to create their own statistical tabulations based on the Department's rich sources of customer data. It provides more data at a more granular level with enhanced visualisation. Claimants' privacy will be protected by sophisticated disclosure control mechanisms. It will cover most existing benefits and pensions and over time will include statistics on universal credit and personal independence payments. See:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	The Demographics User Group, which represents the interests of a range of commercial users of government datasets in the UK, recently presented its annual award for ‘Better information in Government’ to the Department. See the related press release at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2012/oct-2012/dwp105-12.shtml

Employment Schemes

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the technical operation of the Universal Job Match website launched in November 2012.

Mark Hoban: Monster Worldwide Ltd, a market leader in the recruitment sector, was appointed to manage the delivery of Universal Jobmatch to the DWP, bringing proven practices and technologies, and procuring existing recruitment solutions rather than utilising existing DWP IT suppliers and contracts. The procurement was via OJEU and, as such, was open to fair and even competition using a selection process which focused on the bidders technical capabilities.
	The Department has undertaken appropriate testing of the online job posting and matching service, Universal Jobmatch, including: user acceptance testing; accessibility testing; customer experience reviews; and field acceptance tests.
	Monster Worldwide Ltd, the supplier appointed to manage the delivery of Universal Jobmatch to the DWP, continues to undertake Code Reviews to ensure it meets, and continues to meet, the Department's security requirements.
	The service is actively managed through contractual arrangements between the Department and our suppliers.
	DWP have ensured that departmental IT can operate and interact effectively with the Universal Jobmatch solution and that the financial benefits of moving from a complex, multi-system platform to a managed service solution can be realised. All critical departmental IT systems and services impacted by Universal Jobmatch have been fully tested according to existing DWP enterprise test practices.

Employment: Disability

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of disabled people in employment in (a) Brighton and Hove and (b) nationally; what assessment he has made of whether disabled people in work face extra costs (i) in the home as a result of being in employment and (ii) in and to do with the workplace above those covered by the Access to Work scheme; if he will make it his policy to provide support for working disabled people who are found to be fully fit for work but who are at a disadvantage in the workplace as a result of impairments or health conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Latest figures from the Annual Population Survey (July 2011 to June 2012) show that there are 13,000 disabled people in employment in the Brighton and Hove local authority and 3,072,600 disabled individuals in employment nationally.
	We know that disabled people can face extra costs in work, whether they are working from home or going out to work. These extra costs could include specialist aids and equipment or help travelling to work. Employers have a duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. Access to Work provides individuals and their employers with support with the extra costs that are over and above that which is a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act and there is no upper limit to the value of support that Access to Work can provide.
	We are committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the opportunities, chances and support that they need to get a job and remain in employment and there is a range of provision to help them, including Access to Work, Work Choice and Residential Training Colleges. In addition, Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers can provide support and advice for disabled people who need help finding and retaining employment. They can refer individuals to specialist programmes, advocate with employers on the individual's behalf, and help employers to explore job solutions such as the restructuring of a job's tasks/environment or the provision/change of equipment.

Farms: Accidents

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many accidents have been recorded on farms in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive holds details of injuries to workers (employees and the self-employed) and members of the public on farms reported to it under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).
	The data for fatal injuries is regarded as reliable but the data for non-fatal injuries (major injuries and injuries causing over three days incapacitation) is subject to significant under-reporting by the farming sector and should be treated with caution.
	Details of the number of work related injuries to workers and members of the public in agriculture (which includes crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities) in Great Britain reported to HSE in each of the last three years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 RIDDOR reported work related injuries in agriculture over the last three years 
			  Workers (1) Members of the public 
			  Severity of injury Severity of injury 
			  Fatal Non-fatal major Over- 3-day All reported injuries Fatal Non-fatal All reported injuries 
			 2011-12(2) 27 356 534 917 6 85 91 
			 2010-11 30 374 516 893 7 56 63 
			 2009-10 35 459 615 1,109 5 69 74 
			 (1) The category “Worker” includes employees and the self-employed. (2) The data for 2011-12 is treated as provisional until April 2013. Note s : 1. Over-3-day injuries to members of the public are not reportable under RiDDOR. 2. Figure for Great Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales.

Farms: Safety

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how health and safety guidance is communicated to farms; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes a wide range of health and safety guidance on managing risks in agriculture to farms. The guidance aims to help farmers understand what they have to do to comply with the law and is communicated through a number of media including:
	Hard copy publications and topic based information sheets (priced and unpriced)
	The agriculture pages on the HSE website
	An agriculture specific e-Bulletin published every two months. It has over 14,000 subscribers and gives topical/seasonal health and safety advice to farmers
	An annual programme of Safety and Health Awareness Days for farmers which provide practical demonstrations on how to manage everyday risks on farms to targeted, invited audiences. Each event can reach 300 farmers
	Attendance at a number of technical shows
	Visual media such as topic based DVDs/VCRs etc.
	National, regional and local TV and radio, including BBC TV's Countryfile and Radio 4's Farming Today; and
	National, local and trade press including Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian.
	HSE also supports stakeholders in developing advice and guidance on managing health and safety in agriculture which they distribute to members. Industry stakeholders include representative organisations, trade associations and bodies and the trade unions; some of whom are members of the industry-led Industry Safety Partnerships in England and Wales. The guidance is generally topic based and is available to members and others in hard copy form and on their respective websites and includes targeted literature, health and safety related articles in the trade press and training events for members.

Food Banks: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been referred to food banks by job centre staff in Scotland in 2012 to date.

Mark Hoban: DWP, through Jobcentre Plus, operates a foodbank referral service. This is a simple signposting process which builds on the Jobcentre Plus standard practice of holding, locally, the details of organisations to which we signpost claimants who tell us they are in financial difficulty. Jobcentre Plus will only signpost claimants when they can offer no more help.
	DWP/Jobcentre Plus do not collate or hold numbers of foodbank referrals or the reasons why individuals are referred. Jobcentre Plus is not the only routeway for individuals to get referred to a foodbank.

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether individuals in receipt of income from mortgage payment protection policies are eligible to claim support for mortgage interest.

Mark Hoban: Yes. People in receipt of income from mortgage payment protection policies can claim support for mortgage interest as part of income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or pension credit. However, there are rules that govern the treatment of income from such policies in these income related benefits. Generally all income is taken into account when assessing an income related benefit unless certain disregards apply.
	Where income from mortgage payment protection policies is used to pay a homeowner's mortgage liabilities it would be inappropriate for those same housing cost liabilities to be met through state benefits as this would amount to double provision. The benefit rules ensure that public and private provision does not overlap and that tax payers are not subsidising housing cost liabilities which are being met by other means.

Pension, Disability and Carers Service

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls made to the Pension Service in the East of England (a) met an engaged tone, (b) were received and (c) were handled by an adviser in each of the last three years, by call centre; and what area within the East of England is served by each such call centre.

Mark Hoban: Figures for East of England cannot be provided in isolation, as each pension centre receives calls from different areas of the United Kingdom. The Pensions Service does not record the geographic location of individual calls made to its centres.

Redundancy: Disability

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement by the Minister for Disabled People of 6 December 2012, Official Report, columns 84-6WS, on disability employment, 
	(1)  what support will be given to disabled people who face compulsory redundancy;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure the 682 disabled people who are at risk of compulsory redundancy can find employment;
	(3)  how many of the 682 disabled people who are at risk of compulsory redundancy he expects to find new employment through Government programmes;
	(4)  what steps his Department is taking to support disabled people into work.

Esther McVey: Disabled Remploy employees who become redundant as a consequence of the decision announced by the Remploy Board on 6 December can benefit from a package of support that we have provided exclusively for them.
	£8 million has been made available to fund the delivery of a Personal Help and Support Package across Great Britain to support individuals for up to 18 months following redundancy to make the transition from working at Remploy to mainstream employment. 148 former Remploy employees have already moved into alternative employment.
	The support available includes help from a personal case worker with one-on-one sessions, access to a personal budget and existing back-to-work support.
	We have also set up a Community Support Fund to provide grants to local disability organisations to help with that transition.
	Help with finding suitable alternative employment will also be available from Remploy's Employment Services.
	Disabled people who leave Remploy can of course be eligible for help from our existing specialist disability employment programmes, including Work Choice and Access to Work, which are also available for other groups of disabled people who need support in the workplace.
	We have recently made Access to Work available for disabled people undertaking work experience as part of the Youth Contract, which will help many young disabled people take their first significant step towards the labour market.
	We have also made Access to Work available to disabled people interested in starting their own business through the new enterprise allowance scheme in Merseyside from 3 December. Subject to effective operation in Merseyside we will roll this out nationally in the new year.
	We have started a targeted communications plan which aims to ensure that greater numbers of disabled people who could benefit from the programme know about it.
	We have protected the £320 million annual budget for our disability employment programmes and within this budget we are re-allocating £15 million to Access to Work with the sole purpose of supporting disabled people into work.

Social Security Benefits

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for East Ham of 29 November 2012, Official Report, column 489W, on social security benefits: Greater London, if he will prepare and publish an updated impact assessment for the household benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: There are no immediate plans to update the benefit cap impact assessment following the recent announcement to disregard housing costs for supported exempt accommodation.
	Figures approved by the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that this change will reduce the total amount of households affected by the cap by around 2,000 to 54,000 and reduce the savings by around £10 million to £265 million. This estimate is on a consistent basis to the existing impact assessment published 16 July 2012:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to combat (a) benefit fraud by claimants who have multiple identities and (b) other benefit fraud.

Mark Hoban: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) takes the threat of identity fraud very seriously and, as a result, we have robust checks in place to protect the benefit system against such fraud. Instances of multiple identities are very rare; this is because an individual has to prove their identity at the start of a claim to benefit and in any ongoing contact with the Department.
	(b) Fraud in the benefit system is a serious problem, which is currently costing the taxpayer £1.9 billion a year in benefit and tax credit fraud. This is why the plans outlined in our fraud and error strategy, which was refreshed in a joint report with HMRC and the Cabinet Office in February 2012, and measures in the Welfare Reform Act are necessary and show that the Government is absolutely committed to combating the level of fraud in the benefit system.
	These plans include delivering an Integrated Risk and Intelligence Service (IRIS), a hub system for collecting and analysing claimant information and applying fraud and error prevention filters. The Department is also developing the Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS) with HMRC and local authorities, joining expertise and efforts in investigating fraud with pilots having started in four areas. We are also working with partners on the Mobile Regional Taskforce (MRT) pilots focusing on intelligence-led campaigns in high fraud risk areas. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 provides the Department with tougher powers to punish and deter welfare cheats. A tougher minimum administrative penalty was introduced in May 2012 and from 1 October a new civil penalty came into force for claimant error.
	With the introduction of universal credit in 2013, the benefits system will also be made simpler and, as far as possible, the opportunities for fraud to enter our systems will be greatly reduced.

Universal Credit

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the introduction of universal credit on support for families with disabled children who receive the mid-rate care component of disability living allowance; and how many families in this group of families with disabled children there are (a) in Brighton and Hove and (b) nationally.

Mark Hoban: The effect of the introduction of universal credit on families with disabled children depends on several factors. For example, households with children may benefit from the extended child care support arrangements in universal credit. Moreover, families with a blind child who currently only receive the lower of the two disabled child additions in child tax credit will receive the higher disabled child rate in universal credit.
	It is estimated that around 100,000 families receiving DLA middle rate care for a child will be impacted by universal credit. Statistics are not available at the local authority level.
	Transitional protection will be in place to ensure that there will be no cash losers as a direct result of the move to universal credit where circumstances remain the same.

Universal Credit

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for East Ham of 25 October 2012, Official Report, column 1059W, on universal credit, what discussions he has had on the proposal to introduce a third rate of disability addition between low and high rate; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: We have met organisations who represent disabled people to discuss universal credit and expect to continue to do so.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day his Department had not provided a substantive written answer by the day named in each of the last 12 months.

Steve Webb: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			 Month Named day questions not answered substantively on the named day 
			  Number Percentage 
			 December 2011 3 3.1 
			 January 2012 4 3.1 
			 February 2012 0 0.0 
			 March 2012 5 3.9 
			 April 2012 1 0.9 
			 May 2012 2 2.1 
			 June 2012 . 1 0.8 
			 July 2012 6 5.6 
			 August 2012 0 0.0 
			 September 2012 2 2.2 
			 October 2012 5 4.0 
			 November 2012 0 0.0 
		
	
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website as follows:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf

Biometrics

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the regulation of biometric data, including rules for destruction of fingerprints and DNA profiles as legislated in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to be implemented.

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether DNA and fingerprint samples taken from people not convicted of any offence will be destroyed by the end of 2012 pursuant to section 1 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 relating to the destruction, retention and use of DNA will be brought into force.

James Brokenshire: I have published a written ministerial statement today setting out our implementation timetable for part 1, chapter 1 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Drugs: Imports

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2012, Official Report, column 1082W, on drugs: imports, how many of the 37 licence applications that were cancelled, were cancelled by (a) her Department and (b) the applicant; and what the reasons were for each cancellation.

Jeremy Browne: Applications can be cancelled only by the Home Office. Reasons for these cancellations include (i) applications did not fit with the interim oxycodone policy, (ii) withdrawal at the request of the company, or (iii) errors in completion. 11 of the 37 cancellations were at the request of the applicant.

Drugs: Imports

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2012, Official Report, column 1082W, on drugs: imports, whether any of the cancelled applications were cancelled despite the applicant companies having already been granted import licences for oxycodone; and for what reasons in each case.

Jeremy Browne: Of the 37 cancelled applications, 22 were from companies previously granted Oxycodone import licences. Reasons for these cancellations included (i) the application did not fit with the interim oxycodone policy, (ii) withdrawal at the request of the company, or (iii) errors in completion.

Drugs: Imports

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2012, Official Report, column 1082W, on drugs: imports, during the interim period, how many of the 122 approved import authorisations were granted to parallel import companies; and to how many different parallel import companies were such authorisations approved.

Jeremy Browne: All 122 licences were issued to 19 companies in accordance with the interim policy. Applications are assessed against the interim oxycodone policy but the proportion of applications granted for parallel import purposes is not retained.

Immigration

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  on how many occasions someone resident in the UK whose dependent relative was granted leave to come to live permanently in the country was required to reimburse any costs to the public purse for their dependent relative's maintenance, accommodation or care in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of adult dependent relatives of UK residents who are given permission to live permanently in the UK who have been in the country for (a) less than and (b) more than five years in the latest year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: Information is not available on the reimbursement by UK residents of costs to the public purse arising from the settlement in the UK of a dependent relative, or on the cost to the public purse of adult dependent relatives living permanently in the UK.
	On 9 July 2012 the Government introduced new rules governing the entry of adult dependent relatives. The new rules allow an adult dependent relative of non-European economic area nationality to settle in the UK if they can demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they require a level of long-term personal care that can only be provided in the UK by their relative here and without recourse to welfare benefits. The UK resident will continue to be required to ensure that their adult dependent relative will be adequately maintained, accommodated and cared for without recourse to welfare benefits and sign an enforceable five-year undertaking to that effect.

Olympic Games 2012

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to safeguard the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics in the policy areas for which she is responsible; and what budget her Department has allocated for that purpose.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office is completing a comprehensive process to capture the safety and security learning from the Games, which has involved the full participation of security partners. The intention is to incorporate the major learning into the planning for future high profile events in the UK, such as the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and also to pass on comprehensive knowledge to international partners. The Home Office has already participated in the recent Government to Government exchange with the Brazilians to assist their preparations for a number of major events, including the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. Overall safety and security learning will be shared with the Cabinet Office as part of the wider cross Government lessons initiative.
	Building on a proposal in the National Security Through Technology White Paper, the Home Office is recruiting a new Director of Security Industry Engagement to co-ordinate action between Government and the security industry. A key feature of this role will be working with partners, including UKTI, to maximise the Games security legacy, including UK exports. This is already a strong theme in relevant ministerial visit programmes, including the recent Olympic and Paralympic handover in Brazil.

Police: Databases

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many telephone contact databases were downloaded by police from suspects' telephones using the ACESO system by police force in each year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many telephone contact databases were deleted by police from the ACESO system by police force in each year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many (a) warrants and (b) letters of consent were signed authorising police forces to download contact databases from suspects' telephones using the ACESO system in each year for which figures are available.

Damian Green: holding answer 12 December 2012
	The data requested is not held centrally.

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the sections of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 relating to regulation of biometric data and the destruction of fingerprint and DNA profiles to come into force.

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to lay regulations making provision for the commencement of Chapter 1, Part 1 of the protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

James Brokenshire: I have published a written ministerial statement today setting out our implementation timetable for part 1, chapter 1 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Public Appointments

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which recruitment consultants her Department used to select candidates for public appointments within her departmental remit in each year for which figures are available since 2007; and how much was paid in fees to each such company in each year since 2007.

James Brokenshire: Since 2007, the Home Office has run 26 campaigns in which it used the services of recruitment consultants selected from the Cabinet Office Executive Search Framework. The Companies used were Gatenby Sanderson Ltd, Odgers Berndtson, Penna PLC, Rockpools People and Performance Ltd, Saxton Bampfylde Hever plc and Veredus.
	Additionally, the Home Office used the Appointments Commission for a number of appointments. The Appointments Commission has been disbanded and it is not possible to identify the number of distinct campaigns it ran for the Home Office during this time period. However, the costs of the services provided by the Appointments Commission are included in the following figures, which cover all the costs incurred by the Home Office each year for such campaigns:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2007 437,718 
			 2008 264,626.25 
			 2009 191,870.30 
			 2010 145,260.30 
			 2011 54,703.20 
			 2012 262,451.23 
		
	
	From the data available, it is not possible to disaggregate the fees for each company from total campaign costs.

Sick Leave

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, columns 250-1W, on sick leave, what assessment she has made of the difference in the proportion of working days lost due to ill health between officers at AA grade and at SCS grade; and what assessment she has made of the use of mindfulness-based therapies in reducing the proportion of working days lost in her Department.

James Brokenshire: Business areas within the Home Office, supported by human resources, have delegated authority to consider how they interpret and use sickness absence data for their areas. Sickness absence across the Home Office has reduced from 9.34 annual working days lost (AWDL) in April 2009 to 7.88 AWDL in April 2010, and the latest data to October 2012 shows AWDL across the Department has reduced further to 7.63 AWDL. No overall assessment has been made on the specific difference between AWDL at AA grade compared to staff at SCS.
	There has been no overall assessment as to mindfulness-based therapies in relation to AWDL in the Department. However our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) provides information and guidance on wellbeing topics including mindfulness via their website, which is accessible to all staff.

Building Alterations: Planning Permission

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Government plans to respond to his Department's consultation on proposed changes to permitted development rights for extensions to homes in non-protected areas; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: The technical consultation, on extending permitted development rights for homeowners and businesses closes on 24 December 2012. Subject to consideration of the responses to the consultation we will implement changes early next year, by means of a statutory instrument subject to the negative procedure. We will also publish a summary of the consultation responses.

Local Government Finance

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Autumn Statement, what the estimated effect of a two per cent reduction in centrally-funded spending for local Government is by (a) class of authority and (b) region in the years 2014 to 2018.

Brandon Lewis: My Department has not yet published the provisional 2013-14 Local Government Finance Settlement, this is expected in late December. We intend to publish 2014-15 figures at the time of the provisional settlement. Figures for 2015-16 onwards will be made available in due course.

Local Government Finance

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Autumn Statement, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities by type that will not be affected by the further two per cent reduction in centrally-funded spending in local Government in England from 2014 to 2018.

Brandon Lewis: In his autumn statement the Chancellor announced that the Local Government departmental expenditure limits will be. reduced by 2% in 2014-15.
	We intend to publish 2014-15 figures at the time of the provisional 2013-14 Local Government Finance Settlement, expected in late December. Figures for 2015-16 onwards will be made available in due course.

Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the findings and recommendations of the research conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, published on 27 November 2012, on empty property rates; and what steps he is taking to support high streets.

Mark Prisk: The Chancellor considers a wide range of research findings and representations as part of the autumn statement 5 December 2012, Official Report, columns 871-882, and announced a new measure to ensure that empty new builds will be exempt from empty property rates for up to 18 months up to state aid limits between 1 October 2013 and 31 October 2016.
	The autumn statement also announced a further one year extension of the doubling of small business rate relief, originally introduced in October 2010, to April 2014. An estimated third of a million small firms, including many small shops, are paying no business rates at all as a result of the scheme.
	The Government published its response to the Portas Review on 30 March 2012. We have accepted nearly all of Mary's recommendations and we are going even further with a package designed to revive ailing high streets: We are supporting 27 Portas pilots and over 330 town teams; delivered a £10 million High Street Innovation Fund and we are currently considering more than 50 nominations for the £1 million Future High Streets X-Fund. We celebrated the role markets can play during ‘Love your Local Markets' fortnight in June 2012, and on 12 November 2012 announced plans for a bigger and better campaign for May 2013.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  which regulations his Department repealed between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012; and what the anticipated total savings will be from repealing those regulations;
	(2)  what regulations his Department introduced between 1 February and 31 May 2012; and at what cost to the public purse.

Brandon Lewis: holding answers 18 and 28 June 2012
	Minimising regulatory burdens and creating the conditions for businesses and enterprise to flourish is a key priority for my Department.
	The “Third Statement of New Regulation” published by my Department shows that we will reduce the overall burden of regulation on business by £0.26 million in the period from 1 January to 30 June 2012. Over the three Statements of New Regulation, we estimate that the measures we are introducing this year will lead to cost savings to businesses of £4.26 million per year. As a Department we are continuing to reduce burdens to businesses.
	Statutory instruments should not necessarily be viewed as regulations—they are pieces of secondary legislation which ensure policy and functional measures have parliamentary scrutiny and oversight. In this period, my Department issued 64 statutory instruments. 12 of those revoked previous statutory instruments. In total, based on the Explanatory Memorandums to the instruments, 20 were deregulatory or otherwise beneficial to business; 36 had no quantifiable impact on the private and voluntary sectors; the remainder were largely consequential amendments and commencement orders. A list has been placed in the Library. On this basis, one could notionally assert that 20 regulatory measures have been removed and none introduced.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2012, Official Report, column 622W, on wind power: planning permission, if he will consider further ways of ensuring that cumulative landscape and visual effects are material considerations in a planning appeal considered by the Planning Inspectorate for onshore wind farm development.

Nicholas Boles: In a planning appeal, as with all planning applications, decisions are made in accordance with the statutory development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The introduction to the National Planning Policy Framework explains that it must be taken into account in the preparation of local plans and is a material consideration in planning decisions. In setting out in the Framework the Government's planning policies, we have been clear that the adverse impact of renewable energy developments, including cumulative landscape and visual impacts, should be addressed satisfactorily.
	We would encourage local planning authorities to use their Local Plans to help shape where development should and should not take place, and to address cumulative landscape and visual impacts.
	More broadly, I would add that the Department for Energy and Climate Change has been undertaking a call for evidence into onshore wind, including examining how communities can have more of a say over, and receive greater economic and wider social benefits from hosting onshore wind farms. Decision-makers will need to take account of the results of this call for evidence in determining future planning applications.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department has agreed a timetable for the distribution of aid to Yemen that was pledged at the last Friends of Yemen meeting on 27 September 2012.

Alan Duncan: The UK played a leading role in reaching the aid commitments made at the donor conference in Riyadh and Friends of Yemen in September 2012, where the international community pledged $7.8 billion of aid to support Yemen's recovery. Of the £196 million Britain committed, £56 million will be spent in 2012-13, £69 million in 2013-14 and £71 million in 2014-15.
	With support from the World Bank, the Government of Yemen is taking steps to ensure the delivery of the $7.8 billion. This includes setting up an agency which will agree priority projects to be funded, implement vital policy reforms agreed under the Mutual Accountability Framework and ensure that Government and donors are held to account to meet their commitments.
	DFID has been instrumental in the establishment of this agency and will provide financial support to its work through the World Bank.

Gambling Act 2005

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department intends to publish its response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's First Report of Session 2012-13, The Gambling Act 2005: A bet worth taking, HC 421.

Edward Vaizey: The Report contains a number of detailed recommendations to which we are giving full consideration. A response will be published shortly.

Legal Aid Scheme

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of the ten highest-costing cases of legal aid in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The information on the highest-costing cases is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Member once the cases have been identified by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

Legal Aid Scheme

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider the introduction of cost limits to legal aid cases; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Further to those reforms to legal aid in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which, alongside changes to fee reforms, is estimated to save approximately £320 million per annum by 2014-15, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), has announced an immediate examination of aspects of the system which impact on public confidence in the system. The results of this will be published in due course.

Carbon Emissions

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's policy is on implementation of the Fourth Carbon Budget.

Gregory Barker: The fourth carbon budget, covering the period 2023-27, was approved by Parliament in June 2011 and was set at the level (1,950 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent) recommended by the independent Committee on Climate Change. This equates to a 50% reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions relative to 1990 levels.
	The Carbon Plan, published in December 2011, set out a number of scenarios, policies and proposals for achieving the emissions reductions committed to in the first four carbon budgets on a pathway consistent with meeting the 2050 target.
	The Government recognises the scale of the challenge ahead if it is to meet its targets for the fourth carbon budget and beyond and is taking action now to deliver the step change that is needed. The recently announced Energy Bill set out proposals for reforming the electricity market to support low carbon generation, changes which should lead to a doubling in the normal rate of investment. The Government is also supporting continued take-up of energy efficiency measures through the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation; building a market for renewable heat through the Renewable Heat Incentive; and has put in place a Green Investment Bank to help catalyse the private investment that is crucial to driving the change that is needed.

Energy: Social Enterprises

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on support for community-owned renewable energy schemes.

Gregory Barker: The Government recognises the power of community enterprise and institutions to effect change in society, and the coalition agreement included a commitment to supporting community energy projects.
	We are scoping a Community Energy Strategy at the request of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), that will be released in late spring 2013.

Pay

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in his Department in each of the last two years.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change currently awards both non consolidated end of year performance awards and in year special awards.
	The Department uses non consolidated performance related payments to help drive high performance as they:
	encourage continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance
	prevent a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded
	have no long term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments
	focus the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation
	motivate employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of objectives rather than offering payment for time served
	target money at those who make the biggest contribution
	End of year non consolidated performance awards are used to reward the Department’s highest performers as assessed in their end of year appraisal reports.
	Non consolidated in year special awards are used to recognise performance or behaviours which might not be fully reflected in an end of year performance appraisal. These may be used to reward staff for exceptional pieces of work or taking on additional responsibilities.
	The following table details how much was paid in (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses to officials in the Department in each of the last two calendar years for which data is available:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Year in which awards were paid In-year non-consolidated awards End-year non-consolidated 
			 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011 220,767 674,566 
			 1 January 2012 to 30 November 2012 218,588 230,046 
		
	
	The data for 2012 does not include end year non-consolidated awards for staff below the senior civil service as these awards had not been paid up to November 2012.

Sellafield

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the National Audit Office report into the decommissioning of the Sellafield Nuclear Plant published in November 2012.

John Hayes: The Government is considering carefully the detailed findings and recommendations of the National Audit Office (NAO) report into managing risk at Sellafield, published on 7 November 2012, and will respond fully to those in due course. In the meantime the Government welcomes the NAO's report, which recognises that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has a very difficult legacy of nuclear waste to manage at Sellafield.
	The NDA and its contractor, Sellafield Ltd, are now making steady progress at Sellafield, delivering across a range of challenging programmes. The NAO report recognises that while the performance of some of the major projects at Sellafield has been poor, performance on other activities on the site has improved. It also finds that the NDA is taking appropriate steps with Sellafield Ltd to improve performance on projects.
	The Government has made cleaning up and decommissioning the nuclear legacy a priority and is tackling it with vigour, maintaining funding at some £3 billion a year, even at a time when it faces difficult spending decisions. This enables the NDA to continue to make progress on decommissioning, with the focus being on tackling the highest hazards at Sellafield. It is essential that we continue with this vital work and do not repeat the mistakes of the past, which was to do nothing.

Common Agricultural Policy

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 303W, on the common agricultural policy, what are the proposed amendments in relation to the active farmer test which are expected to reduce implementation burdens.

David Heath: The European Commission's active farmer test included an income check which would require that paying agencies collect and thoroughly examine each applicant's financial records to establish whether direct payment receipts amounted to more than 5% of total income from non-agricultural activities. This income test would be prohibitively expensive and administratively complex to implement, without providing any discernable benefit to farming or the EU budget.
	This Government, working closely with like-minded member states, has successfully negotiated the removal of the requirement for an income check from the presidency text. Although not yet finalised, this is good progress towards simplifying the European Commission's proposals. We will continue to work hard to secure further much-needed reductions in unnecessary bureaucracy across the whole of the common agricultural policy reform package.

Environment Protection: Publicity

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the information, advice and links on greener living for individuals were not transferred from the directgov website to the new gov.uk website; if he will make it his policy to (a) post such information on the gov.uk website and (b) include advice on making greener food and drink choices as part of this; how he plans to ensure any such information can be found easily by members of the public; what other steps he is taking to encourage greener living; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has collaborated with the GOV.UK team in the Cabinet Office on the development of the new GOV.UK website. Decisions on what information did and did not transfer over from Directgov were made jointly.
	A strong focus of the GOV.UK site is to present very clearly the information which Government has to publish, specifically on people's legal rights and obligations. As a general rule, where Directgov had “advisory” content that was not based on law or regulation, this did not transfer over to GOV.UK. The GOV.UK site does not aim to duplicate this kind of information which people would be more likely to get from non-Government sources. This was supported by extensive research that the GOV.UK team carried out into people's usage of Directgov and the web in general. Visits to this kind of information on Directgov was shown to be very low. All these considerations applied in the case of the ‘Greener Living’ advice on Directgov.
	Customer testing was carried out by the Government Digital Service as a key part of the process of developing the single government website. It highlighted that people are confused by the sheer volume of Government information. They simply want Government to tell them what they have to do as clearly as possible, not to offer general advice where this is not an obligation and where there are other, independent sources of information they can turn to.
	DEFRA continues to work closely with a range of non-governmental organisations, civil society and businesses to continue to develop and highlight greener living choices. We do this through a range of ongoing research projects exploring, for example, new business models relating to sustainable consumption. We also fund WRAP to promote reuse and recycling of materials and encourage the reduction of waste.
	To ensure we continue to communicate with the public on how to support green living principles we will use social media channels such as the DEFRA Facebook and Twitter accounts as platforms for sharing ideas and stimulating conversation.

Food: Government Departments

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on developing Government Buying Standards for food to date.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA spent approximately £85,000 in terms of staff resources developing the Food and Catering Services Government Buying Standard (GBS) published in September 2011 and taking initial steps towards embedding this in contracts. In addition, since then there has been further work done to add a requirement to support procurement of sustainable palm oil, which involved a small additional amount of staff time. It drew on a research project on UK palm oil consumption ("Mapping & Understanding the UK Palm Oil Supply Chain and Analysis of Policy Options") commissioned to inform action on palm oil overall, which cost £56,800. An additional amount of staff resource has also been spent in procuring and publishing reports in relation to schools and hospitals to support embedding of this standard in those sectors, and in supporting the use of GBS generally within central Government.

Whales: Conservation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to curtail international whaling;
	(2)  what his objectives are in respect of international whaling.

Richard Benyon: The UK Government strongly opposes all types of whaling other than some limited whaling by indigenous people to meet defined subsistence needs. Our key objective is to ensure that the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling is maintained. I attended this year's IWC meeting in July to demonstrate our further aim to improve the conservation and welfare of whales and our support for the moratorium. We will continue to support proposals which bring all whaling under IWC control and an end to so called ‘scientific’ whaling.
	I can assure you that the Government will continue to make our opposition to whaling known at every appropriate opportunity.

Civil Disorder

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment she has made of the recent violence in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Recent days have witnessed attacks on police and property, and threats made to elected politicians in Northern Ireland. This Government fully supports the PSNI in its efforts to tackle this threat and make communities safer, and both I and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), will continue to work closely with the Chief Constable and the Minister of Justice.
	There can be no excuse or justification for this thuggish and lawless behaviour. It is anti-democratic and anti-British.

Civil Disorder

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether (a) attacks on the houses of public representatives and (b) threats to public representatives in Northern Ireland are categorised by the Government as a policing issue or a matter of national security.

Michael Penning: Any attack or threat made against a public representative, irrespective of its classification, is wrong and must be condemned in the strongest possible way. The PSNI work very hard to protect all communities from any threat of attack or violence. They continue to have the unfaltering support of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), and I.

Civil Disorder

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment she has made of the involvement of Loyalist paramilitaries in the recent violence in Northern Ireland.

Michael Penning: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), and I continue to monitor the situation in Northern Ireland closely and have been in regular contact with the Chief Constable. The Police Service of Northern Ireland believe that individuals associated with members of loyalist paramilitary organisations locally have been involved in acts of violence.
	The police continue to gather evidence around the recent disorder and will be working to bring all those who participated in violence to justice.

Civil Disorder

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment she has made of the level of resources provided by the UK Government to enable the Police Service of Northern Ireland to deal with threats to national security.

Michael Penning: PSNI received an additional £200 million funding from this Government to tackle the threat. It is clear that this money has been essential to drive down the threat and ensure that PSNI have the resources they need to protect the people of Northern Ireland.
	This Government has made clear that it will stand by Northern Ireland and this is reflected in the exceptional funding provided.

Flowers

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) cut flowers and (b) pot plants since May 2010.

David Lidington: In relation to the period between May 2010 and March 2012, I refer the hon. Member my answer of 26 March 2012, Official Report, column 978W.
	An additional expenditure of £12,401 was made from March 2012-November 2012 on cut flowers, much of which resulted from Jubilee and Olympic related events.
	Government Hospitality—a section within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Protocol Department—provides corporate hospitality services for the whole of Government, at Lancaster House, the FCO Fine Rooms, 1 Carlton Gardens and 10 Downing street, among other venues. It is used both for government business hospitality and commercial hire to fee paying private clients. It hosts over 200 events each year. Government Hospitality provides semi-permanent plant displays in public areas, decorative arrangements for weekly display and individual table arrangements for lunches and dinners. Fresh flowers are only used when it is appropriate and necessary. Decisions are made on an event-by-event basis and costs are carefully monitored to ensure value for money. Much of this expenditure is reimbursed by revenues generated by the events.
	There is no direct cost to the FCO for pot plants as this is included in the fixed-price element of a contract with our supplier and included in the figures given.

Vietnam

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made any representations to the government of Vietnam regarding the possible closure of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre.

Hugo Swire: The British embassy in Hanoi is aware of the threat of closure of the rescue centre. Our Chargé d’Affaires, in the ambassador's absence, joined 10 other ambassadors in writing to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, on 12 October, to express our concerns. The same group of ambassadors wrote to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural development in 2009 to voice serious concerns about bear farming in Vietnam.
	The British ambassador together with approximately 30 of his staff and their families, visited the centre on 20 October to show their support for the work being done by Animals Asia to care for the 104 Moon and Sun Bears currently at the centre.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which of the educational exceptions contained in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 are applicable to educational uses of digital images of designs.

Jo Swinson: The exceptions in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 only relate to copyright works. If a design is also protected by copyright, then the key exceptions applicable to educational uses of digital images for such works are those contained in sections: 29 (research and private study); 30 (criticism and review); and 32 (things done for purposes of instruction or examination). Separate provisions relating to the use of designs in teaching can be found in the Registered Designs Act 1949.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment on the potential effects of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 on educational establishments and educators (a) generally and (b) who teach design and design history.

Jo Swinson: The Government has no plans to assess the potential effects on educational establishments and educators and those who teach design and design history but will consult on transitional provisions.

Sunday Trading

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what recent research his Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct on the likely effect on shops of under 3,000 square feet of changes to the Sunday Trading Act 1994; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the rights of shop workers who have a conscientious objection to working on a Sunday; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what representations he has received on Sunday trading from (a) trades unions, (b) retail organisations and (c) other groups since September 2012; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what plans he has to produce a post-legislative report on the operation of the Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Act 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Government has consistently stated that the relaxation of Sunday trading regulations during the Olympic period was a temporary measure and that there are no plans permanently to relax these restrictions. If the Government should ever decide to look at a permanent relaxation of these regulations then a full impact assessment, including the impact on small shops, would be carried out.
	In terms of gathering evidence about the effects of the temporary relaxation, I refer to the answer given by the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson), on 11 September 2012, Official Report, column 215W. In the first half of the deregulatory period during the Olympics most of the large retailers who responded to the Department's request for information reported increases in sales compared to Sundays before deregulation, although one reported no change. The increases varied from small to significant. In the second half of the period during the Paralympics a few large retailers reported a small increase in sales.
	The ONS made an analysis of small retailers in Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Portsmouth and Liverpool who reported their sales during the deregulatory period (the Office for National Statistics will be publishing this analysis shortly). The five towns and cities were chosen as large urban areas without significant Olympic events. In summary, changes in sales over the period comparing August with June 2012 varied by size of small retailer with the larger ones reporting increased sales while smaller ones saw decreased sales:
	Retailers with turnover between £500,000 and £1 million reported an increase in revenue of 0.4%.
	Retailers with turnover between £250,000 and £500,000 reported a decrease in revenue of 5.8%.
	The very smallest retailers with annual turnover of less than £250,000 reported an average fall in revenue of 2%.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has received 91 representations on Sunday trading since September 2012. I regret that further information is not available in the form requested and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

Written Questions

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to how many and what proportion of questions for written answer on a named day his Department had not provided a substantive written answer by the day named in each of the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Month completed Total number of named day questions answered Total number without a substantive reply Proportion of named day question without a substantive reply (percentage) 
			 December 2011 91 23 25 
			 January 2012 143 14 10 
			 February 2012 127 34 27 
			 March 2012 121 38 31 
			 April 2012 92 36 39 
			 May 2012 66 16 24 
			 June 2012 90 31 34 
			 July 2012 100 29 29 
			 September 2012 81 32 40 
			 October 2012 104 42 40 
			 November 2012 120 34 28 
			 Total 1,135 329 29 
		
	
	The Government has committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the current Session. Statistics relating to performance for the 2010-12 Parliamentary Session are available on the Parliament website as follows
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/procedure/P35_Memorandum_Leader_of_the_House_ Monitoring_PQs.pdf